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Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt > Khafra

Khafra

Portrait of Khafra, sometimes refereed to as Khafre, Rakhaef, Khephren or Chephren. Originally found at Mit Rahina, now residing in the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo.

Khafra or Khafre (Greek, Chephren) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, with his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefra was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefra's.

His birth name was Khafra, which means "Appearing like Re". He is also sometimes refereed to as Khafre, Rakhaef, Khephren or Chephren by the Greeks, and Suphis II by Manetho. He was possibly a younger son of Khufu (Cheops) by his consort, Henutsen, so he was required to wait out the reign of Djedefra, his older brother, prior to ascending to the throne of Egypt. However, there is disagreement on this matter. There is no agreement on the date of his reign; some authors saying it was between 2558 BC and 2532 BC; this dynasty is commonly dated ca. 2650 BC­2480 BC.

Identifying him with Suphis II, Manetho gives his reign as lasting 66 years, but this certainly cannot be substantiated. Modern Egyptologists believe he may have ruled Egypt for a relatively long period, however, of between the 24 years ascribed to him by the Turin Royal Cannon papyrus (which was apparently confirmed by an inscription in the mastaba tomb of Prince Nekure), and 26 years. He is thought to have ruled Egypt from about 2520 to 2494 BC.

There are rumors of a problem with the succession of Khafra. Some authorities maintain that Djedefra may have even stole the throne, perhaps as a younger brother of Khafra, and that Khafra may have even murdered him.

Much of this speculation originates from the fact that Djedefra broke with the Giza burial tradition, electing instead to locate his tomb (pyramid) at Abu Rawash. However, there is little real evidence to support such a conclusion, and in fact, Khafra continued Djedefra's promotion of the cult of the sun god Re by using the title the 'Son of the Sun' for himself and by incorporating the name of the god in his own.

It is clearly evident from the fine mastaba tombs of the nobles in his court that Egypt was prosperous while Khafra held the throne. Carved on the walls of the tomb of Prince Nekure, a "king's son", was a will to his heirs. It is the only one of its kind known from this period, and in it he leaves 14 towns to his heirs, of which at least eleven are named after his father, Khafra.

Though his legacy was divided up among his five heirs, 12 of the towns were earmarked to endow the prince's mortuary cult.We do know that Khafra participated in some foreign trade, or at least diplomacy, for objects dating from his reign have been found at Byblos, north of Beirut, as well as at Tell Mardikh (Ebla) in Syria. He apparently also had diorite quarried at Tashka in Nubia and probably sent expeditions into the Sinai.

Though there are few inscriptions left for us to completely understand the era of Khafra's rule, he did leave behind some of the most important treasures ancient Egypt has to offer. Besides his pyramid complex at Giza, most Egyptologists believe he also built the Great Sphinx and that it is his face that adorns this huge statue, which sits just beside his valley temple. In addition, the life size diorite statue of Khafra found in his valley temple and now located in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum is one of the most magnificent artifacts ever discovered.

Like his father Khufu, Khafra was depicted in fold tradition as a harsh, despotic ruler. Though as late as the New Kingdom, Ramesses II seems to have had no qualms about taking some of the casing from his pyramid at Giza for use in a temple at Heliopolis, by Egypt's Late Period, the cults of the fourth dynasty kings had been revived, and Giza became a focus of pilgrimage.

Khafra's mummy has been lost, but his mortuary temple at Giza yielded one of the finest extant Old Kingdom statues an almost undamaged life-size seated diorite figure of the king enjoying the protection of the god Horus. A statue of Khafra under the protective shadow of a falcon is in the Cairo Museum.